Civic Engagement: It Will Change You

I've been asked to write a few posts this week about the importance of civic engagement. I agreed without too much hesitation because, having turned 53 this summer, I feel like I probably have enough life experience to say something on the subject that just might resonate with others. In any case, I appreciate the opportunity to share a few ideas that have grown in meaning for me over the years.

The idea for today: engaging with your community can change who you are forever. I know this to be true because it has certainly happened to me. Believe it or not, I was forever changed by my very first experience with community volunteering. I happened to attend Marian High School in Birmingham, and in 1968, when I was a freshman, I joined the Future Teacher's Club. Membership in the club required that every Saturday morning we all meet in Marian's parking lot, hop in a van and make our way down to Detroit to tutor children at one of the elementary schools.

I don't remember the name of the school or where it was, nor any of the kids, nor the specific subjects I tutored, but I can't forget the feel of the school. I remember that the school was worn and tired looking. I remember the halls were dark. I remember the desks were in poor condition, and that we had to share old copies of dated books for tutoring. I also remember that the kids who came were fed breakfast. I thought about the breakfast that I had had that morning in my brightly lit kitchen, the clean, comfortable school I attended, the expensive language labs, the gleaming gym floor.

I'd like to say that I immediately became an advocate for equality in education, but I didn't. I registered what I saw - that is all. One day, however, many years later, while taking child development classes for my Speech Pathology degree at Central Michigan University, a thought struck me that has passed through my mind on a regular basis since: Those kids didn't have a chance to compete with me. I began to understand quite clearly that it was no accident that I was at a university getting a higher education, while others were not. I had the privilege of a comfortable home, plenty of food, an excellent school and the companionship of others who were just like me. When thinking about the kids I had tutored, I could not imagine that many of them would end up in my college classes with me. How, I thought, would they have done on their college entrance exams, given the lack of rigor in their academic curriculums and other poverty-related challenges? This, I thought, didn't seem fair.

Once this understanding really set in, I discovered I was changed. My political leanings began shifting left. Discussions of affirmative action engaged me. I'd also like to think that I became more compassionate in my work, both paid and volunteer. This experience set me on a course to observe other cases of societal inequality - you might say it opened my eyes - and I haven't been the same since.